Apparatus for charging a furnace

ABSTRACT

AN ARTICULATED CARRIAGE WITH TANDEM SECTIONS IS SUPPORTED AND GUIDED BY A TRACK FOR MOVEMENT TO A LOCATION ABOVE A STEEL-MAKING FURNACE, PREFERABLY OF THE BASIC OXYGEN TYPE, A FORWARD CARRIAGE SECTION CARRIES A CHARGE CONTAINER AND A FOLLOWING CARRIAGE SECTION DRIVES THE CARRIAGE ALONG THE TRACK. FORWARD MOVEMENT OF THE FRONT SECTION IS STOPPED ABOVE THE FURNACE AND CONTINUED MOVEMENT OF THE TRAILING SECTION JACKKNIFE THE CARRIAGE, TILTING THE FRONT SECTION AND CHARGE CONTAINER FORWARD. A PORTION OF THE TRACK ABOVE THE FURNACE IS ANGULARLY INCLINED DOWNWARDLY RELATIVE TO A PRECEDING PORTION OF THE TRACK TO INITATE TILTING OF THE FRONT SECTION OF THE CARRAIGE.

United States Patent Inventors Appl. No Filed Patented AssigneeAPPARATUS FOR CHARGING A FURNACE 3 Claims, 13 Drawing Figs.

Int. Cl ..B66c 17/08, 1501b 25/22, B61d 15/12 Field of Search 214/19,62;

Primary Examiner-Robert G. Sheridan Attorney-Watts, l-loffmann, Fisherand Heinke ABSTRACT: An articulated carriage with tandem sections issupported and guided by a track for movement to a location above asteel-making furnace, preferably of the basic oxygen type. A forwardcarriage section carries a charge container and a following carriagesection drives the carriage along the track. Forward movement of thefront section is stopped above the furnace and continued movement of thetrailing section jackknife the carriage, tilting the front section andcharge container forward. A portion of the track above the furnace isangularly inclined downwardly relative to a preceding portion of thetrack to initiate tilting of the front section of the carriage.

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58 52 64 IO/ 49L INVENTOR5 KLAUS W. F'ORSTER DONALD W. SCHAPER BY W/ MfM ATTONEYS.

APPARATUS IFOR CHARGING A FURNACE RELATED APPLICATIONS This applicationis a division of Application, Ser. No. 671,784, filed Sept. 29, I967,US. Pat. No. 3,497,089, Apparatus and Method for Charging a Furnace.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION The present invention provides economical apparatusthat will carry a charge to a steel-making furnace and discharge thecharge with minimal direct operator control. To this end, a track and anarticulated carriage movable along the track are provided which carry acharge container, such as a ladle, and automatically tilt the containerat a proper location to introduce the charge toa furnace. One importantfeature is that the tilting of the container is accomplished by themovement of the carriage along the track, eliminating the need fromseparately controlled means for conveying the charge and tilting thecharge container. Also, the rate at which a charge, such as molten iron,is discharged from the container can be controlled. It is therefore aprinciple object of this invention to provide a track suitable forconveying an articulate carriage carrying material to be charged into afurnace from a loading position to a furnace so'constructed etc. thatthe carriage is tilted by changing the relative angular relationship oftwo sections of the carriage about a horizontal axis in response tomovement of the carriage along the track in order to introduce a chargeto a furnace.

Another object of this invention is to provide a track for anarticulated carriage as described above, which terminates in adownwardly inclined portion that initiates relative pivoting of the twosections of the articulated carriage. In the preferred construction, thetrack includes two side-by-side guide members, each including a tracksurface and at least one including a rack means for engagement with cogsor teeth of a drive wheel of the carriage.

It is a further object of this invention to provide for the efficientand convenient charging of a steel-making furnace by supporting acarriage on wheels on opposite ends of the carriage and adjacent atransverse pivotal axis intermediate the ends, to carry a charge in acontainer by said carriage along a track to a furnace, and to dump thecharge into a furnace by stopping the front of the carriage whilecontinuing to drive a trailing portion of the carriage to raise thetransverse pivotal axis and central portions of the pivoted sections ofthe carriage from the track so as to forwardly tilt the front section ofthe carriage.

These and other objects, features and advantage of the present inventionwill become more apparent from the following detailed description of thepreferred embodiments described with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic, partial elevational view showing a carriageand track constructed and arranged in accordance with the presentinvention and the adjacent environment of a steel-making furnace;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the horizontal track portion and carriageof FIG. I;

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view through a track member of FIG.2, taken along the line of 3-3 and looking in the direction of thearrows, and showing the carriage in side elevation;

FIG. 4 is an end elevational view taken from the right-hand side of FIG.3;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. 2 andlooking in the direction of the arrows, showing details of the ladle carof the carriage;

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of the ladle car of FIG. 2 withportions broken away, showing constructional details ofa ladle ringcarried by the ladle car;

FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic view of the ladle car of FIG. 6 showing themanner in which the ladle ring and ladle can pivot relative to the car;

FIG. 8 is a diagrammatic view similar to FIG. 7, showing the manner inwhich the ladle ring and ladle can pivot in an opposite directionrelative to the ladle car from that shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary side elevational view taken along a planesimilar to that of FIG. 3 through an inclined portion of the track toillustrate a safety ratchet carried on the carriage;

FIG. 10 is a partial side elevational view with a portion of one trackguide member removed, illustrating the position of the carriage andladle at the terminal end of the track adjacent a furnace, prior totilting the ladle;

FIG. 11 is a side elevational view similar to FIG. 10, illustrating themanner in which the ladle car and ladle are tilted to introduce a chargeto a steel-making furnace;

FIG. 12 is a partial side elevational view, with a part in section, ofthe terminal end of a track guide member viewed from the inside,illustrating details of a stop member for engaging and holding an axleof the carriage, and specifically showing the manner in which a portionof the axle is received prior to tilting of the carriage; and

FIG. 13 is a partial elevational view similar to FIG. 12 illustratingthe manner in which an axle portion of the carriage is retained by thestop member when the ladle car is tilted.

A general arrangement of a furnace charging apparatus constructed inaccordance with the present invention is shown in FIG. 1 of thedrawings. The apparatus is shown in connection with a conventionalsteel-making furnace vessel 20, and includes a track 22 and anarticulated carriage 24 that carries a ladle 25 along the track from aloading area at which the carriage is shown in solid line, remote fromthe furnace, to a charging station above the furnace vessel 20, wherethe carriage and ladle are shown in phantom.

The furnace vessel 20 is of the type used in the basic oxygen processand is shown tilted to receive a furnace charge. The furnace can befurther tilted after the charge is processed to discharge its contentsinto one or more ladles 26 and slag pots 28, which are carried ontransfer care 29, 30, respectively, on a track 31 at a level below thefurnace vessel 20.

The track 22 that carries the carriage 24 includes a horizontal portion22a at a first level beneath a platform support or floor 34, an upwardlyinclined portion 22b extending from the horizontal portion to a higherlevel above the furnace vessel 20, and a terminal portion 22c that isinclined downwardly directly adjacent and above the furnace vessel 20when the furnace vessel is tilted as shown in FIG. 1 to receive acharge. A molten iron transfer ladle 36, of the torpedo-type, is shownon tracks 38 that extend across the track 22 at the level of theplatform or floor 34 above reinforcing beams 39. The transfer ladle 36can be moved over the track 22 at the loading area to transfer moltenpig iron to the ladle 25, which is then carried by the carriage 24 alongthe track 22 and charged into the furnace vessel 20.

The carriage 24 is in two sections and comprises a ladle carriagesection or car 42 and a drive carriage section or car 44. The twocarriage sections or cars are pivotally connected together in tandem bya horizontal transverse axle shaft 46 and are supported on three pairsof wheels 47, 48, 49 that ride on the track 22.

As best shown in FIG. 2 to 4, the track 22 is constructed of twolaterally spaced, side-by-side, guide members 52, 54 in the formofchannels in which the pairs of wheels 47, 48, and 49 of the carriage24 ride. The guide members 52, 54 are mirror images of each other andthe structure mounted on the guide members is identical for each;therefore, only the guide members 52 and associated structure will bedescribed in detail. Corresponding parts on, the guide member 54 arereferred to by corresponding reference numerals, designated with aprime.

The guide member or channel 52 is formed ofa vertical web 56 and upperand lower flanges 58, 59 extending inwardly of the track. A rail 62 forsupporting the wheels of the carriage 24 is mounted on the upper surfaceof the lower flange 59 and a chain 64, which functions as a rack, isfixed to the lower surface of the upper flange 58. The chain 64 isoffset laterally outward with respect to the rail 62, as best shown inFIGS. 2 and 4. At the terminal end 220 of the track, where the track ininclined downward, the upper flange is open at 65. (See FIG. 1 and thecorresponding portion 65' of the guide member 54 in FIGS. and II). Theopen portion 65 is located directly over the rail 62 and inwardly of thechain 64, so that the chain 64 follows the contour of the guide memberwhile the open portion permits the center pair of wheels 48 of thecarriage 24 to move out of the guide channels 52, 54 when the ladle carreaches the end of the track.

A stop member and latching device 66 is located in the channel membersat the terminal end of the track, and serves to stop the front portionof the carriage 24 and secures it against movement along the track ineither direction once the ladle car section of the carriage is tiltedrelative to the track, in a manner to be further described subsequently.The device 66, an shown in detail in FIGS. 12 and 13 is in the form ofaplate secured to the inside of the vertical web of each guide member.The plate has a slot 67 having upper and lower edges 67a, 67b thatconverge to a minimum gap at 670. The slot 67 terminates in a circularconfiguration 67d larger in diameter than the width of the gap 670 andwhich will receive the axle of the front wheels 47 of the ladle car.

The ladle car 42 has a frame 70 that is U-shaped in plan and formed ofopposite side portions 70a, 70b and a connecting front portion 70c. Atransverse front axle 72 is fixed in the front portion 70c of the frameand rotatably supports two wheels 47a, 47b located outwardly of theframe 70. End portions 72a, 72b of the shaft 72 extend beyond the wheels47 and are the full diameter of the shaft longitudinally of the car butare smaller in the direction of the car height. This constructionfacilitates latching or keying the input axle in place at the terminalend of the track because the end portions 72a, 72b will pass through thegap 670 of the slot 67 in the stop member and latching device 66 whenthe carriage is aligned with the track. The end of the slot thencontacts the axle ends, acting as an abutment to stop forward movement.Once the ladle car is tilted, as shown in FIG. 13, the shaft 72 rotateswith the car and the end portions 72 0, 72b cannot move back through thegap 67c from the circular portions 670 of the latching devices 66.

The horizontal transverse shaft 46 about which the ladle car 62 anddrive car 44 pivot relative to each other, is rotatably supported at theopposite end of the ladle car from the axle 72. Wheels 48a, 48b arerotatably supported on the carriage by this shaft and are located to theoutside of the frame 70, aligned with the pair of wheels 47.

A ladle ring 75 is pivotally secured to the ladle car 42 and supportsthe depending ladle 25 in which molten iron is normally carried. Theouter periphery of the ladle ring 75 is generally rectangular in plan,as shown in FIG. 2. Stud shafts 78, 79 extend from opposite sides of theladle ring, are pivotally received in the side frame portions 70a, 70bof the ladle car and support the ladle ring for pivotal movementrelative to the ladle car about an axis parallel with the axle 72 andpivot axle 46. A stop member 82 in the form ofa rectangular blockextends from the ladle ring 75 on each side, directly beneath the studshafts 78, 79. The stop members 82 extend into wedge-shaped recesses 84,85 (FIGS. 2, 3 and 5) formed on opposite inside surfaces of the frameportions 70a, 70b of the ladle car. Each recess has inclined surfaces84a, 84b and 85a, 8512 respectively, which form an apex adjacent thestud shafts and function as inclined abutment surfaces that cooperatewith the stop members 82 when the ladle car is inclined beyond a givenangle with the horizontal.

The manner in which the ladle and ladle ring freely swing within thelimits of the abutment surfaces so that the ladle ring is normallymaintained in a horizontal position is best illustrated in FIGS. 6, 7and 8. The ladle car 42 is illustrated in a horizontal position in FIG.6, corresponding to an orientation along the track section 220. In FIG.7. the ladle car is shown at an angle incline with the horizontal, aswhen the ladle car is moved up the inclined portion 22b of the track 22.FIG. 8 illustrates the angle of the ladle car 42 when supported by thetrack at the terminal portion 220. In each of the positions shown, theladle remains level. It will be apparent from FIG. 8 that furthertilting of the ladle car 42 in a counterclockwise direction about theforward axle 72 will tilt the ladle 76 by virtue of the cooperationbetween the stop member 82 and the inclined surfaces 34a, 85a whichlimit relative pivotal movement between the ladle ring and car once thecar is tilted to the position shown in FIG. 8.

The drive car 44 is attached in tandem behind the ladle car 42 by thepivot axle 46 and is power driven to move the ladle car along the track22 between the loading station and charging station end to tilt theladle car and ladle at the charging station. The drive car 44 includes aframe 88 having longitudinally extending side portions 88a, 88b andcrossbeams 88c, 88d. The side portions 88a, 88b extend forwardly of thecrossbeam 880 and are connected to the pivot axle 46 so that the axle 46can rotate relative to the frame 88. The side frame portions 88a, 88balso extend rearwardly of the cross frame member 88d and are spanned bya flat body portion 89 that serves as a support for a drive unitindicated generally at 90.

Two short axle shafts 92, 94 extend through the side frame portions 88a,88b respectively behind the crossbeam 88d and are journaled in the sideframe for rotation. A wheel 49a is secured to the axle shaft 92 and awheel 49b is secured to the axle shaft 94. These wheels are aligned withthe other wheels 47, 33 and ride on the rails 62, 62'. Each shaft 92, 94extends outward, beyond the wheel. A sprocket 96 is fixed to the outerend of the shaft 92, and a sprocket 98 is fixed to the outer end of theaxle shaft 94. The inner ends of the axle shafts 92, 94 are respectivelydriven by gear trains in housings 100, I02. Within each of thesehousings a driven gear (not shown) is secured to the inner end of therespective axle shaft, and an intermediate idler gear 104 connects thedriven gear to a drive gear 106 (both shown in dotted lines in FIG. 3).The drive gear 106 associated with axle 92 is driven by a shaft 108 froman electric motor 112. The corresponding drive gear associated with theaxle 94 is driven by a shaft 109 from an electric motor 113. The driveshafts of each electric motor are axially aligned and connected by acoupling 116 between the two motors to assure that both drive at thesame speed. A solenoid actuated brake 118 is provided on the shaft 108,and a similar brake 119 is provided on the shaft 109. The brakes 118,I19 provide a convenient means for maintaining the carriage 24 in fixedlocation, especially when the ladle 25 is being filled with a furnacecharge. Normally the motors 112, 113, in addition to driving thecarriage, are used to control the speed of the carriage 24 when it movesdown the inclined track section 22b.

A safety rachet 122 is carried by the drive car 44 (FIGS. 3 and 9),located to cooperate with the chain 64 to prevent uncontrolled movementof the carriage down the inclined track portion 22b. The rachetmechanism consists of a pawl 123 pivoted on a shaft 124 extendingtransversely through and journaled in the frame portion 88a. Acounterweight arm 126 is secured to the shaft 124 to bias the pawl 123into contact with the chain 64. A solenoid actuator 128 is connectedwith the counterweight arm 126 to pivot the pawl 123 out of contact withthe chain. With this arrangement, the pawl 123 biased by thecounterweight arm 126 permits the carriage 24 to move in a forwarddirection from the loading station to the charging station whilepreventing movement of the carriage in the opposite direction, shouldthere be a power failure that would disable the drive mechanism. When itis desired to move the carriage from the charging station back to theloading station, the solenoid 128 is energized, pivoting the pawl out ofcontact with the chain and permitting movement of the carriage in theopposite direction.

Electric current to operate the motors 112, 113, brakes 118, I19 andsolenoid 128 of the drive car 44 is supplied in a conventional manner(not shown), as by a conductor or third rail associated with the trackand a collector associated with the carriage, or by flexible cablesconnected directly from a source of power to the drive car.

In operation, the carriage 24 is first positioned at the loadingstation, where it is shown in solid line in FIG. 1. The ladle 25 isfilled with a furnace charge, such as molten pig iron from a transferladle 36. While the carriage is located at the loading at the loadingstation, the brakes 118, 119 are actuated to prevent movement of thecarriage. Once the ladle is filled with molten metal, the brakes arereleased and the electric motors 112, 113 are energized to rotate thedrive shafts 108, 109 and the sprockets 96, 98 in a clockwise directionas viewed in FIG. 3. By virtue ofthe engagement of the sprockets 96,98with the chains 64, 64, the carriage is moved along the rails 62, 62 ofthe guide members 52, 54 and up the inclined portion 22b of the track 22toward the charging station. During this movement of the carriage thesolenoid 128 controlling the pawl 123 of the safety rachet 122 isdeenergized so that the counterweight arm 126 holds the pawl in contactwith the chain 64.

As already indicated, at the loading station the ladle car and ladle areas shown in FIG, 6. When the carriage is moved up the inclined section22b of the track, the car and ladle pivot relatively to the positionshown in FIG. 7, and when the carriage first reaches the chargingstation, the ladle car is positioned in the track portion 22c in therelationship shown in FIG. 8. The position of the entire carriage atthis time is shown in FIG. of the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 10, when the carriage first reaches the terminal end ofthe track 22 the ladle car 42 is inclined downward and the drive car 44is inclined upward, the two being pivoted about the pivot axle 46.Extending ends 72a, 72b of the front axle shaft 72 engage the stopmember 66 and prevent further forward movement of the front of the ladlecar. Continued rotation of the drive sprockets 96, 98 causes the drivecar 44 to continue its movement up the inclined portion 22b of thetrack. The intermediate pair of wheels 48 leaves the track and continuesin a generally upward direction through the openings 65, 65 in the trackguide members 52, 54. This continued movement of the drive car causesthe ladle car to pivot in a forward direction about the front axle 72 tothe position shown in FIG. 11 of the drawings. Because the stop members82 on the ladle ring 75 prevent the ladle from pivoting clockwise, asviewed in FIGS. 10 and 11, relative to the ladle car once the car is inthe position shown in FIG. 10, the ladle is tilted with the car asindicated by the arrow A to discharge the contents of the ladle into thefurnace vessel 20.

During the tilting of the ladle car 62, the front axle shaft 72 rotatesrelative to the track and is thereby secured against movement along thetrack by the narrow gap 67c of each stop member and latching device 66.This prevents the front end of the ladle car from. moving backward alongthe track once the car is pivoted beyond the vertical.

Once the drive sprockets 96, 98 of the drive car reach the positionalong the track shown in FIG. 11, a limit switch (not shown) stops theoperation of the electric motors 112 and 113. After a short time delayto allow the ladle to empty, the motors 112, 113 are reversed, thesolenoid 128 to the safety rachet 122 is energized and the drive car 44is moved back along the track 22 toward the loading station. Thismovement first tilts the ladle car back to the track, to the positionshown in FIG. 10, and then moves the entire carriage 24 to the positionshown in FIG. 1, where the ladle 25 can receive a subsequent charge.

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that the present inventionincludes the provision of a reliable and essentially automatic inclinehoist which (I) eliminates the need for a separate guide tracktoseparately cause tilting and pouring of the charge carrier, (2) controlsthe rate at which the charge is poured by the speed of movement of thecarriage and (3) is relatively simple and reliable in operation.

While a preferred embodiment of the present invention has been disclosedin detail, it will be readily appreciated that various modifications oralternations may be made therein without departing from the spirit andscope ofthe invention.

We claim:

1. In apparatus for charging a steel-making furnace having anarticulated carriage comprising first and second sections pivotedtogether for relative angular movement about an axis transverse to thedirection of carriage movement and track wheels at the front and rearends and adjacent to or at the pivoted connections of the sections, acontainer for a furnace charge pivotally connected to the first sectionof the carriage, means for driving the rear section of the carriage, anda stop member on the first section of the carriage that limits thepivoted movement of the charge container relative to the carriage, atrack extending between a first location remote from the furnace to becharged and a second location adjacent and above the furnace comprising:a terminal portion inclined downward relative to a preceding portion;said track including two spaced channel-shaped guide members havingtheir flanges'projecting towards one another, the lower flanges of whichfonn track surfaces for the wheels of the carriage and the upper flangesof which are located closely above the wheels and have openings orcutout portions adjacent to or at the beginning of the downwardlyinclined portion of the track for the passage of the track wheels at thepivoted connection of the carriage section through the upper flanges;and means at the terminal portion of the track adapted to stop forwardmovement of the first section of the carriage without stopping movementof the second section whereby the center of the carriage raises as thesecond section of the carriage continues to move along the track tiltingthe first section of the carriage to tilt the container forward and dumpa charge therein into the furnace.

2. In apparatus for charging a steel-making furnace having anarticulated carriage comprising first and second sections pivotedtogether for relative angular movement about an axis transverse to thedirection of carriage movement and track wheels at the front and rearends and adjacent to or at the pivoted connections of the sections, acontainer for a furnace charge pivotally connected to the first sectionof the carriage, a stop member on the first section of the carriage thatlimits the pivoted movement of the charge container relative to thecarriage, and means for driving the carriage including a driven toothedwheel on the rear section of the carriage, a track extending between afirst location remote from the furnace to be charged and a secondlocation adjacent and above the furnace comprising: a terminal portioninclined downward relative to a preceding portion; said track includingtwo spaced channelshaped guide members having their flanges projectingtowards one another the lower flanges of which form track surfaces forthe wheels of the carriage and the upper flanges of which are locatedclosely above the wheels and have openings or cutout portions adjacentto or at the beginning of the downwardly inclined portion of the trackfor the passage of the track wheels at the pivoted connection of thecarriage section through the upper flanges; at least one of said guidemembers having apertures along the underside of its upper flange forengagement by the driven toothed wheel on the carriage; and means at theterminal portion of the track adapted to stop forward movement of thefirst section of the carriage without stopping movement of the secondsection whereby the center of the carriage raises as the second sectionof the carriage continues to move along the track tilting the firstsection of the carriage to tilt the container forward and dump a chargetherein into the furnace.

3. In apparatus for charging a steel-making furnace having anarticulated carriage comprising first and second sections pivotedtogether for relative angular movement about an axis transverse to thedirection of carriage movement and track wheels at the front and rearends and adjacent or at the pivoted connections of the sections, acontainer for a furnace charge pivotally connected to the first sectionof the carriage, a stop member on the first section of the carriage thatlimits the pivoted movement of the charge container relative to thecarriage, and means for driving the carriage including a driven toothedwheel on the rear section of the carriage, a track extending between afirst location remote from the furnace to be charged and a secondlocation adjacent and above the furnace and means at the terminalportion of the track adapted to engage the leading axle of the carriagefor stopping forward movement of the first section of the carriagewithout stopping movement of the second section whereby the center ofthe carriage raises as the second section of the carriage continues tomove along the track tilting the first section of the carriage to tiltthe container forward and dump a charge therein into the furnace.

